my two cents- im new- but mediums suit me- I play them instinctivly (sp) when I read up on the FCM and watched some videos and others play it- I bought one and its a pissaa. Has all the bang and runs around in circles- fun but also a worker

The FCM is very French. That is a good thing, because it trains French crews and teaches the tactics one needs to be successful in high tier French heavies. It doesn't have an autoloader like the tech tree French heavies, but otherwise is very similar.

The gun is great, reasonably accurate, good handling, excellent penetration, consistent damage output, and cheap ammunition. 240 damage a shot might not seem like much, but that can translate into 480 damage in 6.5 seconds, and with 212 pen bouncing is rarely a problem.

I've found the FCM works best playing second line support at the beginning of a game. I don't mean sniping just inside draw distance, but close enough to take opportunity shots and relocate or flank as needed. If you manage to conserve your HP the FCM can make a huge difference at the end of the game with its mobility, rate of fire, and penetration.

I almost never fire premium rounds. There are very few tanks the FCM sees that it can't pen frontally with AP. The E75 is the most obvious example, were 212 pen is not always enough even for its lower plate. Some would say the ST-I, but gold won't pen its turret front or upper hull, and regular AP will pen its lower plate.

All in all its a great tank, but not the easiest premium to do well in.

I'm itching to buy this because I'm eager to start the French heavies and want the crew trainer plus a credit earner. It will be my first tier 8 premium. What scares me is spending $45 on a tank that I may completely suck at.

Who is the best person to watch on youtube play this thing? How long is it on sale?

FCM 50 t is a great tank. It is not a Steel Wall contender; do not ever sit out in the open taking shots. If you can flank the enemy with it then god help them. It is my favorite of the tier 8's, though I'm also used to the light armor and good speed of other French heavies. You will never see tier X in it unless you platoon, so you should never need to use gold rounds. I can't imagine why anyone would use gold rounds in a premium tank in the first place - it's counterproductive.

The Lowe basically gets 20 more pen, not a deal breaker, and I think slightly more alpha damage, but both come at the price of nearly double the reload time. The Lowe is also not a good candidate for taking shots either, but lacks the mobility of the FCM. All the tier 8 premiums have a special trait that separates them from the heard. The FCM is the second best flanker and probably the best mobile support fire of the group. Despite it's speed, never lead a charge, lol.

FCM 50 t is a great tank. It is not a Steel Wall contender; do not ever sit out in the open taking shots. If you can flank the enemy with it then god help them. It is my favorite of the tier 8's, though I'm also used to the light armor and good speed of other French heavies. You will never see tier X in it unless you platoon, so you should never need to use gold rounds. I can't imagine why anyone would use gold rounds in a premium tank in the first place - it's counterproductive.

The Lowe basically gets 20 more pen, not a deal breaker, and I think slightly more alpha damage, but both come at the price of nearly double the reload time. The Lowe is also not a good candidate for taking shots either, but lacks the mobility of the FCM. All the tier 8 premiums have a special trait that separates them from the heard. The FCM is the second best flanker and probably the best mobile support fire of the group. Despite it's speed, never lead a charge, lol.

That depends on WHY you're running premium tanks in the first place. I run them more for their crew training value than for their earning potential. Thus, I prefer to do as much damage as possible in my premium tanks to get the most XP possible for the best crew training result. And if that means running some or a lot of gold rounds, then I do it.

That said, I haven't seen much reason to run much, if any, gold in the FCM, because its gun already has good pen.

Was deciding on either the FCM or the JT 8.8, while the sale was going on. I didn't care for the AMX 4 mile 45, so I was a bit apprehensive on purchasing the FCM. Well, I purchased it, and I'm quite delighted with it. Very nice tank indeed.

What equipment do you folks suggest for it? I currently have my ARL 44 crew in it, coupled with it's Vents, Rammer, and EGLD. Almost 100% on BIA for the crew. ALR 44 is a keeper.

The thing was a huge waste of money for me. This account does not tell the whole story about my experience by the way, I am no noob. I bought the tank to make silver to supply my arty games. BIG mistake.

By the way, take a look at some of the people above's stats in this thing and they are TERRIBLE... yet they praise it to the skies. Be careful whose advice you take.

The gun does have pretty high pen. But it has less alpha damage than a tier 6. You are VERY LUCKY if you can do 250 damage per shot... very lucky. Take a look at the tanks you face at tier 8 and 9 and figure out how many times you will have to hit them to kill them doing 250 or less per damage roll. This math is easy. The number of times is large.

And every tank in the game from tier 3 up (not a misprint) can penetrate the thing like cutting through butter. You almost NEVER bounce a shot... it just goes right through. And the thing is a bigger target than a KV-5... it is HUGE. And the turret sticks up like a lighthouse and is made of wet French toilet paper. People do not have to trouble themselves about shooting a hatch like on many tanks... they just aim at youre entire turret and you go boom. Dead.

Next, almost every time you are hit, you lose a module or crewmember. Every. Single. Time.

Last, it DOES NOT just roll in the silver. To add insult to injury, the income is no better than many non-premiums.

It does one thing well. It is fast for a heavy tank. Which means you can get to the scene of its total destruction very quickly. Makes it easier to get in another tank and have a good game.

Honestly, unlike the poster above be, I am quite happy to have an FCM in my garage. I put off French heavies for the longest time because I've been focusing on other nation's tech trees. The last time I was serious about the French was when WG ran a Dicker Max mission and I needed a tier 4 heavy (so I made the sane choice and went for the B1).

Fast forward to this weekend and I bought the 50t on discount, stuffed the B1 crew inside, trained a 5th crewman and set about to find what's what with the 50t.

Impressive tank, I must admit, but then I also must divulge the fact that I had done a bit of research about the 50t to see just what I would be getting into. Conclusion: it's a battlecruser. Not quite a heavy, though it does have a healthy hitpool, and not nearly a medium because...well...just look at the size of the thing (nevermind making an argument for the Centurions). The 50t does not handle like a heavy. The rate at which it turns and gobbles up swathes of ground suggest that the 50t has been bred with a medium's DNA. The gun for sure leans towards the medium end of things, but that doesn't hurt either, because its reload is glorious and the DCA is a beaut of a gun. About the only thing that is "heavy" about the tank is the weight. And don't for a second think that the weight is a drawback, because it packs a 1,000hp engine, meaning the 50t will most definitely hit its 51kph top speed.

Not seeing above tier 9 is nice for a change, though this isn't the only premium heavy that gets that treatment. The IS-6, KV-5, and Chinese WZ-111 and 112 never see above tier 9 either. While most of those heavies move quite well for the mammoth beasts that they are, the 50t dances about them as if they were standing still, and makes the KV-5 appear as if it's stuck in the mire. While on the subject of these heavies, the only heavy that the 50t doesn't beat for profit margin is the KV-5. Having a 90mm (or 100mm for the KV) does have its benefits. 252 credits per shot means that the 50t can fire 4 shots, do 960 average damage and still come in cheaper than the Russians and Chinese for firing a single shot. The math is simple to understand.

So, with all the good, where's the bad? Well, speed and agility come at a price and the first thing to go is armour. Firstly, the sides and rear of the FCM are easily penetrated. The tracks count as spaced armour, but the hull is H-U-G-E, if low slung. You can get odd bounces off the very top of the hull and sometimes the rear, but it can not be relied on. The turret is surprisingly strong, but what little gun mantlet is there can be punched through and the commander's hatch is fairly prominent and can be hit.

If you have the skill to know when to flex around the map, which the 50t can do endlessly, you will love this tank. Remember, adjust to the tank, not the other way round. The tin says "heavy", but the playstyle breathes "medium".

I just bought one and have done 30 ish rounds i find it to be an odd tank.

It's fast so i love it.

I find the armour to be far better than i expected. I've gotten 6 non pens in a round and it's common to get a few or more non pens (more than the CDC will ever get)

It gets ammo racked ALL the time multiple times a round, which i have to repair and therefore costs me

When tracked it takes Ages to repair it's self and therefore costs me cos i have to use a repair kit

So far it's a poor money maker cos im having to spend 20K on repair kits most round. FAAAAR more than any other tank. While in theory it's a good money maker i find it not to be,it's certainly not the cash machine the lowe is. But it's more fun than the lowe.( lowe getting another armor buff in 9.6)

I'm just going to leave that there and say: If you prefer a cautious play style that is reminiscent of the Panther line, then the FCM is your french tank, offering a better experience than Panther 8.8. due to it's limited MM. I would say buy any limited MM tank that you have your eye on sooner than later, because WG has been quoted saying they want to remove all limited mm tanks from the store, in due time.

I wish i was better in this tank, but im much better in IS6 and 112 because im a brawler and also better in T34 even with ulimited MM due to its strong turret, great gun depression and high pen. I made 2 million net playing T34 and 112 all day last saturday with a good winrate/WN8, but not so good in FCM.

I wish i was better in this tank, but im much better in IS6 and 112 because im a brawler and also better in T34 even with ulimited MM due to its strong turret, great gun depression and high pen. I made 2 million net playing T34 and 112 all day last saturday with a good winrate/WN8, but not so good in FCM.

Good:

Pref MM

Gun Depression

Strong Pen

Good rate of fire

Bad:

Big as House

Slow for Medium

Weak Hull

Weak Turret

Module Damage

Arty Magnet

MM puts u against Heavies

Harder to carry compared to 112 or IS6

I don't hate it, but there are a lot of negative qualities. It doesn't have the armor or alpha to go slug it out at a choke point or in town with other same tier heavies. Yet MM weights it like a heavy...meaning that teams you are on are effectively down one top tier (assuming tier 8 game) heavy. It's huge size makes it nearly impossible to miss and it's amour blocks almost nothing. Given the bad camo (due to size), and poor slope/bad armor, it is more poorly protected than same tier mediums and can't even be a "front liner" with medium tanks. I'm having my best success by playing it as support for my mediums, running just behind the lead group, getting in and doing damage when I can make it more than 1v1. I'm having trouble getting my win rate out of the toilet with it.

It's strengths-good pen with AP and cheap ammo. It makes very good credits. But kills my stats. It's reload is OK, but nothing exceptional for such a low-alpha gun and similar to mediums...at tier 7.

Other premiums I have played are nerfed in some area but have some real strength compared to "standard" tanks in other areas. IS-6 has poorer pen, but good armor and alpha. T34 has weak hull armor, but great gun and very good turret. Church III has awesome DPM. KV-220 has troll hull. E-25 has great speed, camo, ROF. This has no strengths (other than credit printing) and lots of weaknesses.

It needs a significant buff somewhere to not be a drain on teams. One possibility would be a major turret armor buff so it could at least hull-down. Either that or a massive alpha buff. If you trade shots with a same tier (or even a tier 7) heavy, they nearly always WILL pen you and most guns do upwards of 2X the damage of yours. Keep the same crap armor, but at least double the alpha to make the firepower relevant in tier 8. This would make it a very effective "heavium". Alternatively, give it an autoloader (my preferred approach) making it a slightly nerfed 50 100. If it got the 50 100's gun, the size coupled with it's poor armor would be enough of a "nerf" to make it similar in effect to other premiums. This at least makes it a heavy that teaches skills useful in higher tier French heavies. Right now it's not comparable to anything else in the game.

And for chrissakes, buff the ammo rack on this frickin' thing.

Now...sadly...when I look at Bilbo's stats (64%W/R with this frickin' thing, you are a god)...I have to accept that it's the driver and not the tank.

FCM 50t (average players) – full review – The FCM gets to be ranked twice, and that’s because it’s special. I’m talking “short-bus” special or “all-star” special with very little in between. See, the tank has no armor and loses crew/modules with any hit to the side or rear. That will cause many players a lot of headaches, so be realistic when deciding on this purchase. The tank never needs to fire gold rounds, which gives excellent credit making. Preferential matchmaking.

Purple Division

FCM 50t (for good players) – full review – For a good medium player, the FCM is a top 3 medium for all the tier 8 tanks. It has sufficient penetration, great mobility, view range, and the HP of a heavy. If you can take fire from the front only, crew/module damage is greatly diminished and what’s left is a beast of a credit grinder and game-winner. Preferential matchmaking.

a few of us in our clan just bought them with our winnings from the big tourney... I'm loving mine... i'm making 5k more per battle (net) compared to my next best tier 8 and about 1-2k over the average on vbaddict... cheap rounds and not needing to shoot prem rounds is nice (stock AP has almost as much pen as the apcr in the is6...

as it stands it looks like we'll be platooned a ton this month working for our free 3500 tog gold while earning tons of credits